Acer Laptop - Startup Problems

R

roachsrealm

New Member
Having some startup issues with my laptop. When I power it up (plugged in to AC power or not) I will get a graphical glitch right away. As soon as it loads up Bios and tries to show the Acer loading screen, before it shows Windows starting up. Looks a little different every time (i.e, complete screen shows: white and black stripes, green and purple boxes in random locations, or even just a blank screen). I'll power off and retry, and it will normally take 2 or 3 tries. Then is starts up normally, no problems.

The odd thing is that it doesn't do it all the time, but its often enough to concern me with the condition of either the hard drive, motherboard, processor, graphics card, etc.

Anyone have any ideas about what would cause this, how I can diagnose where the problem is coming from, or how to fix it? Thanks.

Specs of Laptop are below:

Acer Aspire 5920
Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 @ 1.50 GHz each
2.00 GB Ram
Windows 7 32bit OS
Graphics: NVidia GeForce 8600M GT
Harddrive: Hitachi HTS541616J9SA00 ATA Device

to my knowledge all the drivers are update, but I am working on updating them if they need it. Can post more information upon request.
 
The_Other_One

The_Other_One

VIP Member
Hmm...while it could be a software issue, I suspect a failing GPU or RAM. First thing, I'd try booting off a CD of some sort. If it takes mutliple times to get it running, see if you can boot to a Windows or Linux CD when it begins to act up. If you can, it could simply be software. Since it's so early, it's probably simething to do with Windows core files, so a system repair would probably help (just google it, there are many guides on a repair install) If you can't boot still, it's probably hardware. You could pull out a single stick of RAM (assuming you have two sticks) and see if there's a difference. Swap to the other if the problem persists.

Now if none of this helps, it's probably GPU related. Being a laptop, it's probably either integrated (non-removable dedicated card) or a very specific card that'll be difficult to find for sale. Now, the problem may be resoolved by using the heat-gun method (opening the computer and heating up the chip to essentially resolder it) but many times this fix isn't permanent.
 
R

roachsrealm

New Member
Thanks for the advice. It was the motherboard and the connector to the AC unit in the back. Totally fried after a few more hours of service. Ended up being replaced and salvaged for parts.
 
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